A List
1/26/04

SLU GALLERY EXHIBITS THREE ARTISTS' WORKS ON CHINA DAM

CANTON – "The Unforgiving Pace of Progress: China's Three Gorges Dam," an 
exhibition at St. Lawrence University's Richard F. Brush Art Gallery through 
February 21, highlights photographs by three artists who have visited the project.
	The exhibition includes work by photographers Steve Benson from 
Detroit, Jennifer Lim from Toronto and Ben Sandler from San Francisco.
	Benson states, "The Three Gorges Dam, 610 feet high and 1.3 miles wide, 
will create a reservoir on the Yangtze River 50 miles longer than Lake Michigan. 
As the largest concrete object on the planet, it will ultimately force more than 
two million people to vacate their homes and disrupt the lives of 30 million 
people who live in the region. The reservoir will flood 8,000 known archaeological 
sites; 250,000 acres of China's most fertile farmland; and 1,600 factories, 
many of which have been burying toxic materials in the ground for the past 50 
years. Scientists fear that lead, mercury, arsenic and dozens of other substances, 
including radioactive waste, will leach into the river's watershed.
	"Dr. Sun Yat-sen, considered to be the father of the Chinese Republic, 
initially discussed the project in 1919 as part of his Plan for National 
Reconstruction. The dam was also of great interest to his successors, including 
Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, as well as Mao Zedong and Den Xiaopin, 
though it never generated strong support. However, in the wake of the Tiananmen 
Square protest in 1989, the government needed to bolster national pride. 
The collapse of the Soviet Union was an additional motivating factor, and in 
1992, Premier Li Peng, a Russian-trained hydro-engineer, pushed the project 
through the National People's Congress; one-third of the delegates voted against 
the dam or abstained. Construction began in 1994.
	"The Chinese government cites three principal reasons to build the 
dam: to generate 11% of the country's electricity (the equivalent of 18 
nuclear power plants), reducing its need for coal-burning facilites; to control 
the Yangtze's devastating annual floods which have claimed the lives of more 
than 300,000 people during the last century; and to improve the standard of 
living in one of the most impoverished parts of the country by allowing 
10,000-ton ships to move goods in and out of the heart of China. As part of a 
14-hour television broadcast celebrating the blocking of the Yangtze on 
November 8, 1997, President Jiang Zemin noted, 'This proves vividly once again 
that Socialism is superior in being capable of concentrating resources to do 
big jobs. Since the twilight of history, the Chinese nation has been engaged 
in the great feat of conquering, developing and exploiting nature.'
	"On June 10, 2003, at 10 p.m., the reservoir began to fill, reaching 
a depth of 425 feet in spite of the 100 cracks that were discovered in 1999 
running the full height of the upstream face of the dam. The cracks were repaired, 
only to reopen. Chinese engineers claim this is common, but others suggest it 
is due to the improper curing of concrete. In 2009, the reservoir is expected 
to reach 575 feet, completing the flooding of 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,352 
villages."
	For more information or to arrange individual or group tours, contact 
the gallery at 315-229-5174.

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